Hi all, just a quick question, you see I thought I had it all sussed for when our new pup comes, but then a pet shop owner threw a spanner in my works lol.
I always thought you didnt leave any room in a crate to let the puppy wee in, but today I was told that you should have half of the crate for the bed and line the other part with paper so the pup can go potty? Im sure this isnt right but after telling the lady this, another customer agreed with her? Now im not sure lol. I thought the whole point of the crate was that they dont (or shouldnt ) use the house as a toilet, but the lady today said if we dont let her go in the crate at night then its unfair? I know you should get up with them at least once in the night but now im just not sure. Thanks in advance

Just realised that OH hadnt logged out so it was me that posted

Ooh nope! Our experience, and EVERYONE we talked to said, get a crate for pup to grow into, but divide off the other end completely, so pup can't get into it at all, they should not wee/poop in the crate at all. Increase the space as the pup grows.

You need to get them up lots in the night, or if they cry, and let them out for a pee.poop, that way they learn to hold it for longer as they grow. Crate soiling is a nightmare for poor poopie. I remember Bailey had a bad belly one night and she was SOOOOO upset at having messed her bed.

She, in my opinion, was talking rubbish...

If someone knows better, I am happy to be proved wrong of course!

I think it boils down to personal preference, and whether you want to get up in the wee small hours (no pun intended).

BB's breeder did the half paper thing I think We never put paper down in the crate, and got up all hours when he cried for pee's Either way, both Beemie and his ickle sis are housetrained now (sept Beemie just peed by the front door when we got home)

I had Chase in my bedroom and he was brought out of his crate for night-time pees until I knew when he was likely to need a wee. I then set my alarm to get him out before he cried and he was moved downstairs.

I have three other dogs that I didn't want to disturb so this was the best option to me, I had to get up twice in the night for the first weeks as I got my pup young then once and he was soon dry.

If you don't leave space in the crate to pee at night you have to be prepared to get up - pups just cannot hold it nor do they have the ability to hold it, they are along the lines of....I need a Pee, ooh there it is!!!!! So you make your choice, either way will work and it all depends how well you function with disturbed sleep .

i too got up in the night, fonz was in the bedroom with me each time he woke up and whinged, i got up and took him out. Wee wee - then back in, no fuss no mess, just praise when he wee'd outside. was usually about 3 am and 5 am..

was about 3 weeks b4 he could go thru the night and the crate stayed downstairs with him in it.

since then i had one accident - recently i might add, when i had a lie in - clearly just about 5 mins too long!!

Thanks for all your help Im happy with waking up and taking out, ive got two children so should be used to the disturbed nights by now! lol. I think ive gone so nuts reading up on everything that I can get my hands on about springers I didnt want to take someones advice that I wasnt sure would be right for us, and then regret it later on. Or not take the advice and then for me to be wrong. Gosh its a mine field! lol.
Thanks for all your help
Na

Hi

I had a crate for my puppy that had enough space for bed and papper, however it did not work , she just kept going on the paper. So I was able to lend a smaller crate that only gave her room for a bed, and it has been a success from day one.

I was lucky to be able to borrow a small crate, so if you can have one that grows with the dog or can make it, that would save you some money.

But if they are very young you might need a good alarm clock

Jenny

While they are very small, often a cardboard box beside your bed might do for them to sleep in. By the time they are big enough to climb out or have chewed it away they should have grown into the kennel.

i agree with susanna, I used a large toy box by the side of my bed, then when she cried i would quickly carry her into the garden (i didn't let her walk there herself because as soon as she was out of her bed she would wee on the floor). When she out grew the toy box she then went into her crate - i didn't do the half paper thing though.

good luck

Sam and Angel

PS i remember the relief the first time she slept through the night! it was like being a new mum all over again!

Thanks guys, we are lucky enough to have a fabby pet shop around here that will rent you a small crate for as long as you need it and will keep exchanging it every time the puppy gets too big, also anything you pay in rent for the little ones then comes off the price of the large one that you are going to keep once puppy stops growing.

What a wonderful idea to rent the crates! I would certainly do business with them!

There are two schools of thought on crate training, one says that a dog just won't 'go' in its crate, the other says that very teeny puppies will as they physically can't hold on. So if you have to leave a pup in an area where it will go, better to teach it to be 'substrate specific' so it learns that if you have to go, it is only on that particular surface (old fashioned 'paper training' worked) so if you use concrete or grass (which ever is your preferred surface outside) in the crate, you can remove it when the dog no longer needs to use it for the time span it is in the crate. Personally I wouldn't use paper, or any other material you might need to leave in a crate.

Errorless house training

Another idea is what we did for Roly - put his crate inside a playpen so he could hop out in the night and if we didn't get to him in time he could go on the paper in his playpen.

He got the idea of going outside really quickly and we very quickly (by 9 weeks old) could take him out at 11.30pm for a last wee and he was dry round to us getting up at 06.00am.

This is what we did with Sage when she was a little as well, and it worked really well. When she was a bit bigger, we put the crate entrance across the dog flap which meant she could get outside to do her stuff, and quickly associated it with outside.